1977 E27 masthead body

[VINEYARDVIKING]

Ok , the mast came down Easy as pie , boat resting in slip.
Now...
Looking for an E27 masthead , has 2sheaves foreward 2 aft, aluminum" side plates" are cracked and coroded in several places, appear bowed out from extreme corrosion of old sheaves left idle for 7years. most of rest of spar is ok . bowing is worst outboard of all sheaves, first thought the metal was pressed into that shape, but looking at it , being uneven and asymetrical it appeard unserviceable. there appears to be a center divider also.
Merely replacing sheaves & bushings doesent seem like a seaworthy idea, while all standing and running rigging is being replaced we are not confident in masthead body.

welded on unit. can maybe be cut off at welds on mast cap or top of mast trimmed off, new cap and masthead fitted to spar either mechanically or welded

skipper has call into The LB ericson junkyard.. possible option .

any recomendations? are we on right track.

Some other similar complete unit could be fitted im fairly certain, has anyone run into and worked through this one.

Thanks for any input,

 

[PDX]

Any photos you could post?

 

[sleather]

After pulling everything out and scraping/blasting away the corrosion you might be surprised how little metal is really missing(corrosion=massive expansion of the base metal). Might look at welding some plates on the outside , after it's straightened, rather than replace the whole masthead.

For what it's worth the mast section and masthead are shared amoung the E23, E25 and E27 if your going to try and find one.

My E23's in this thread.....

http://www.ericsonyachts.org/infoex...ickenhead-on-E27&p=64691&highlight=#post64691

 

[mherrcat]

I would just be careful about welding new metal over old metal that you know had corrosion. Even when you clean the corrosion from the surface and it looks good, the corrosion has actually penetrated deeper into the metal than you think. I found this out when I refinished my boom. Now I have new corrosion causing the paint to bubble in several places.

 

[VINEYARDVIKING]

Pictures attempt


1ST PICTURE IS MASTHEAD , SORRY IT IS PARTIALLY OBSTRUCTED,
I HAD TO GET A MICROCARD READER TO TAKE FROM MY PHONE .
skipper forgot to take picture with good camera. hes going to go downt o the slip to get prints of the spar profile from the base and foot plate.


The swelling and some of the cracking is arount the 2 lower holes closest to the mast truck plate
ther is also cracking where the plate metal meets the mast truck plate/cap plate about behind the power wire near the vhf base in the nice picture.
the antenna bracket snapped off at the fasteners , no big deal to fix
dont know if it can be zoomed from here or if you can see anything.
nothing is completely off the table including dupicating/ repair/reinforcing/adapting/ replacing with a better used spar.

cant remember if there is a topping lift block aft but pretty sure there is also a free hanging block for a spinnaker foreward

mast has foreward light down below

thanks for any replies, they help focus brain power, the skipper will be reading this tonight.
he says minnies in Newport CA told him they have "all kinds of mast , spars and parts", he just has to go down there and see /price what they have.
junkyard has less stuff but more ericson centric.
so likely he has to take a day trip and hope he finds Solution.

 

[dt222]

I just had my masthead cap off this weekend for some rewiring so could have sent some pictures. My unit is not welded, but affixed with tapped bolts and that seems adequate. I replaces sheaves/roller last year. I find it hard to believe that corrosion would exert enough pressure to distend the mast tube, so if you could post pictures, that may be or great help. Before I shortened the mast (and possibly affected trim/sail fit) I'd try just about anything else.

Don

 

[dt222]

OK. Picture helps a lot. Your unit seems to be custom made from stainless stock. Mine is a cast unit that form-fits into the mast tube by about 4", so no need to weld on. I wonder if you could cut the weld, and see if on your rounds you could find more of the stock cap unit that fits inside of the mast.

don

 

[VINEYARDVIKING]

its aluminum and yes welds can be cut

everything except sheave pins/axle/fasteners and stay attachments is aluminum plate.
mast/spar tube not distorted, just main sideplates of masthead assembly , picture isnt good enough.

spar wont be shortened by cutting welds on truck plate/mast cap but might be slightly if we cut if right at tip of spar, maybe 1/2"
if he finds an insertable assembly we will likely have to cut mast truck plate off but im pretty confident he can cut it cleanly anywhere needed.

as soon as he gets back to santa barbara he will have spar section profile to compare to whatever he comes up with.

he will hopefully inpect he spreader brackets to see if they are the cast ones.
i know the current spreaders are the airfoil/wing cross section.

thanks for reply

 

[Emerald]

I'm looking at the second picture you posted and feeling like I'm missing something. I see what looks like a scratch/score mark that runs parallel to the VHF antenna bracket. Is this your crack? This mark appears to run right through the weld. I would not expect a crack in the spar to run through the weld, so is the crack not really a crack, but some other mark, or am I just not seeing what you are talking about?

 

[Rocinante33]

Masthead

You may want to check with Rig Rite. They may have a new masthead for your mast. You will need to identify the mast and which section it is. Many Ericsons had Kenyon spars. Measure the outer dimensions of the mast and look at the shape of it, including the sail track. Even make a tracing of it since you have it out of the boat. With that info, maybe you can I.D. It from the Rig Rite web site. Then you could call them to try to get a masthead.

I'll warn you that their customer service seems to suck, though.

http://www.rigrite.com/A-Main/spar_M.html#Identifying your Spar Section

Your masthead looks to me like it was made in somebodys shop, perhaps by an amateur. Maybe the loads from the sails are causing the side plate to bend which is the bowing you see. I would probably want to replace it, but you don't have to give up on the mast. It still may be fine with a new head on it. It's what my wife says about me.

 

[VINEYARDVIKING]

CLARIFICATION seems needed

The second picture is one "like" the one on the boat , representative of the damaged one , it shows duplicate style /shape and welded configuration and it was presented in conjucntion with what I wrote in order to help visualize specifically where the damages are as my cel phone picture was so unclear.
Skipper is going to get spar profile including tracks for id , once spar is identified we may have found a couple places to deal with including rigrite and one in calif that makes some like it.
exact replacement not required, welded or fastened fine.
pretty certain it is original equip on mast now.

may be a while before update as we await spar profile and ID

Its good to know you are here to run things by.

 

[mherrcat]

I'll warn you that their customer service seems to suck, though.

You forgot to also mention that their prices are outrageous...

You might want to check with Ballenger Spars, they could probably fabricate something.

http://www.ballengerspars.com/

 

[Emerald]

The second picture is one "like" the one on the boat , representative of the damaged one

[snip]

Its good to know you are here to run things by.

Thanks for the clarification, which I obviously needed . It's good actually, as I was staring at the 2nd photo last night thinking one of us was nuts


Lots of good insight and opinions on this site. Just remember, they're all worth what you paid for them....

 

[dt222]

Pics

Although it may be too late, here are some pictures of my masthead unit

 

[VINEYARDVIKING]

THank you Don, Our skipper is down at the boat (E27) today tracing mast profile, and looking for any other spar identification.
Yours is a nice heavy casting and open top. easy to feed sheeves. hope we get one similar.
The one we are working with (or around) is made out of angular bent heavy sheet aluminum , closed top. looks like a cheaper version than yours.
of course if spar matches yours, and he can find one like you have got, we will be good to go i think.
hopefully spar will be identified by monday or tuesday..


Bosun
​

 

[VINEYARDVIKING]

Update on masthead

NO Slip in masthead or used Weld on was found.
sparcraft
several similar ones but none seemed accceptable to skipper.
So replacement is being made up.
doesent look like it will be much of a job , will just have to get a welder to put new one on.


Solution.... dont look for U channel or plan on bending plate aluminum.
Buy a 1' piece of box section 1.75" x4" rectangle "tube" aluminum .125" wall thickness from a metal supplier about 10+10shipping.( midwest metals)
order new sheaves. (composit this time)
order new SS pins.
reuse phenolic center divider piece -or make something out of a suitable plastic to match it.

trace shape into new aluminum piece , cut out similar on new piece , drill, assemble and weld.
also ad a bracket or 2 if needed for wind directions, vhf,etc.

Hope no hitches. owner will cut it this week.
Old one , soaked in salt away, no luck , penetrating oil, no luck ,so....
I pulled the old one apart. step drilled pin that wouldnt drift out even with skippers large hammer and a punch-- as end peened a bit..
sides of aluminum sheaves had corroded and expanded as expected. Jamming tight ,one side expanded far enough to suck in the cotter pin .
other one part way but damaged area of pin hole.
Skipper has also chosen to go to dacron halyards, double braid similar to N.E. STA Set except for reuse of old cable topping lift. Sheeves are being adjusted accordingly.
hope this helps if anyone else who runs into this.